Paired Devices

ABSTRACT

Disclosed herein is a media device. The media device comprises an output component configured to deliver an experience to a user. In addition, the media device comprises a pairing communication link for exchanging information about the experience with a paired user device, and a detection component configured to directly detect an indication received from the user device. The indication is received over an air interface other than the communication link. Further, the media device comprises a processing component for decoding the indication. It is configured to exchange information via the pairing communication link with the paired user device in response to decoding the indication, the information including information about an option. The processing component is further configured to detect selection of the option and modify operation of the media device to implement the selected option.

BACKGROUND

Conventional communication systems allow the user of a device, such as apersonal computer or mobile device, to conduct voice or video calls overa packet-based computer network such as the Internet. Such communicationsystems include voice or video over internet protocol (VoIP) systems.These systems are beneficial to the user as they are often ofsignificantly lower cost than conventional fixed line or mobile cellularnetworks. This may particularly be the case for long-distancecommunication. To use a VoIP system, the user installs and executesclient software on their device. The client software sets up the VoIPconnections as well as providing other functions such as registrationand authentication. In addition to voice communication, the client mayalso set up connections for other communication media such as instantmessaging (“IM”), SMS messaging, file transfer and voicemail.

Recently, internet capabilities and functionality has been integratedinto a television set (often referred to as a “Smart TV”), or into aset-top box arranged to be connected to a television set. This includesthe integration of client software into a television set to enablecommunications over a packet-based computer network such as theInternet.

The embedding of a packet-based communication client in a TV has theadvantage that a large screen is present, which can be utilised forvideo calling. Furthermore, significant processing power can be providedin the TV, particular as the power requirements for a large, mainselectricity powered consumer electronics device are less stringent than,for example mobile devices. This enables a full range of features to beincluded in the embedded communication client, such as high qualityvoice and video encoding.

It is also known to integrate hardware devices into a Smart TV. Forexample, a microphone may be integrated into a smart TV which arecapable of always listening to the environment of the Smart TV (forexample a room of a house) to enable the Smart TV to react to voicecommands.

SUMMARY

There is provided a media device. The media device comprises an outputcomponent configured to deliver an experience to a user. In addition,the media device comprises a pairing communication link for exchanginginformation about the experience with a paired user device, and adetection component configured to directly detect an indication receivedfrom the user device. The indication is received over an air interfaceother than the communication link. Further, the media device comprises aprocessing component for decoding the indication. It is configured toexchange information via the pairing communication link with the paireduser device in response to decoding the indication, said informationincluding information about an option. The processing component isfurther configured to detect selection of the option and modifyoperation of the media device to implement the selected option.

Also provided is a user device comprising a pairing communication linkfor exchanging information with a paired media device about anexperience configured to be delivered at the media device. The userdevice also comprises an indication generator for generating anindication for transmission over an air interface other than thecommunication link, and a processing component configured to exchangeinformation via the pairing communication link with the paired mediadevice responsive to detection by the media device of the transmittedindication. The information includes information about an option,thereby enabling the media device to modify its operation upon detectingselection of the option.

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts in asimplified form that are further described below in the DetailedDescription. This Summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used to limit the scope of the claimed subject matter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

For a better understanding of the described embodiments and to show howthe same may be put into effect, reference will now be made, by way ofexample, to the following drawings in which:

FIG. 1 shows a schematic illustration of a communication system;

FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram of a media device;

FIG. 3 is a schematic block diagram of a user device;

FIG. 4 is a schematic block diagram of a method.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments will now be described by way of example only.

Disclosed herein is a media device (e.g. a TV) able to listen for knownaudio tones and/or look-out for known visual indicators (such as knownQR codes) on one or more secondary (companion) user devices (e.g.smartphones), indicative of an event (e.g. an audible ringing indicativeof a voice or video call), and to present options on how to interactwith the event.

The media device has an output component configured to deliver anexperience to a user. For instance, the media device may have an outputcomponent in the form of a large screen which is used to deliver alarge-screen experience version of a communication client to the user.The media device is configured to establish automatic communication witha paired (companion) user device in response to detecting an indication.

The user device has an output component configured to deliver anexperience to the user. For instance, the user device may deliver analternative experience version of the communication client to the user.The user device client and the media device client may be linked, withthe user device client offering a “companion app” style experience.

FIG. 1 shows a communication system 100 comprising a second user 102(“User A”) who is associated with a second user device 104 and a firstuser 112 (“User B”) who is in the vicinity of a media device 110, whichis a television (“TV”) in this embodiment.

It is common place for there to be one or more other devices in the sameenvironment as a TV. These other devices are referred to herein as“companion devices” for reasons which will be described in more detailbelow. For example in a living room companion devices such as smartphones and laptop computers may also be present. FIG. 1 illustrates suchan example of a companion device as a laptop computer 114. Whilst FIG. 1shows a single companion user device 114 in addition to the TV 110, itwill be appreciated that a plurality of companion devices may be presentin the vicinity of the TV 110.

The user device 104 can communicate over a network 106 in thecommunication system 100 with the companion user device 114 or the TV110, thereby allowing the users 102 and 112 to communicate with eachother over the network 106.

The communication system 100 shown in FIG. 1 is a packet-basedcommunication system, but other types of communication system could beused. The network 106 may, for example, be the Internet. Each of theuser devices 104 and 114 may be, for example, a mobile phone, a tablet,a laptop, a personal computer (“PC”) (including, for example, Windows™,Mac OS™ and Linux™ PCs), a gaming device, a personal digital assistant(“PDA”) or other embedded device able to connect to the network 106. Theuser devices 104 and companion device 114 are arranged to receiveinformation from and output information to the user of the respectivedevice. The user devices 104 and companion device 114 comprise outputmeans such as a display and speakers. The user device 104 and companiondevice 114 also comprise input means such as a keypad, a touch-screen,mouse, a microphone for receiving audio signals and/or a camera forcapturing images of a video signal. The user devices 104 and thecompanion device 114 are connected to the network 106. For atouch-screen, the user may input commands by way of swiped or gestures.

Note that in alternative embodiments, the user device 104 and companiondevice 114 can connect to the network 106 via additional intermediatenetworks not shown in FIG. 1. For example, if the user device 104 is amobile device, then it can connect to the network 106 via a cellularmobile network, not shown in FIG. 1.

The user device 104, companion device 114, and the TV 110 each executean instance of a communication client 108, provided by a softwareprovider associated with the communication system 100. The communicationclient is a software program executed on a local processor in therespective device. The client performs the processing required at thedevice in order for the device to transmit and receive data over thecommunication system 100.

Communication system 100 also comprises a back-end server 120 associatedwith a service provider (e.g. an operator of network 106). Both device114 and TV 110 are operable to communicate with back-end server 120 overnetwork 106. Although shown as a single server, it will be appreciatedthat the functionality of server 120 may be divided between any numberof suitable computing devices.

Each communication client 108 a, 108 b, 108 c has a log in/registrationfacility which associates the user device 104, TV 110 and companiondevice with a particular respective user. Users can have communicationclient instances running on other devices associated with the same login/registration details.

In the case where the same user, having a particular username, can besimultaneously logged in to multiple instances of the same clientapplication on different terminals, back-end server 120 of communicationnetwork 106 is arranged to map the username (user ID) to all of thosemultiple instances but also to map a separate sub-identifier (sub-ID) toeach particular individual instance. Thus the communication system iscapable of distinguishing between the different instances whilst stillmaintaining a consistent identity for the user within the communicationsystem.

User 102 is logged-in at device 104 as “User A”. User 112 is logged-inat device 114 as “User B” and at TV 110 as “User B”. The TV 110 can belogged in as multiple identities, with one of those identities matchingthat of device 114 (i.e. “User B”).

The TV 110 is connected to the network 106 via a network interface suchas a modem. The TV 110 shown in FIG. 1 is a standalone unit, but itshould be appreciated that a separate TV and set-top box (STB) or otherTV-connected device can also be used.

The TV 110 is executing an embedded communication client 108 b (clientengine). Note that in alternative embodiments, the embeddedcommunication client can be executed in a STB. The embeddedcommunication client 108 b comprises software executed on a localprocessor in the TV 110.

The TV 110 is arranged to receive information from and outputinformation to the user 112. A remote control unit may act as an inputdevice operated by the user 112 for the control of the TV 110. The TV110 can also receive broadcast television signals, and display these asvideo (television programmes) to the user on the TV screen. Thebroadcast television signals can be delivered by terrestrial, satelliteor cable broadcasting, and be in the form of analogue signals or digitaldata.

Reference is now made to FIG. 2, which illustrates the hardware andsoftware functional blocks embedded in the TV 110. The TV 110 comprisesa number of output components including a screen 202 and at least onespeaker 212. The screen 202 is for displaying images to the user 112 andis driven by video driver hardware 204 arranged to convert video signalsinto the form required to be correctly displayed on the screen 202. Thevideo driver hardware 204 is provided with digital video data from twoframe buffers 206 and 208. The frame buffers 206 and 208 are storagedevices that buffer video data that is to be displayed to the user.Frame buffer 2 (“FB2”) 208 receives standard TV video signals, as isknown for the display of broadcast TV. Frame buffer 1 (“FB1”) 206 storesvideo data related to the packet-based communication client, as will bedescribed presently. An audio amplifier 210 receives TV audio signalsand amplifies these for output through at least one speaker 212.

The TV audio and video input signals themselves originate fromtelevision signals broadcast via any suitable means such as a satelliterepeater stations, wireless terrestrial repeater stations or cable; andreceived by a television receiver unit of the TV 100 (not shown). Notethat broadcasting is distinct from point-to-point communication,including being distinct from multicasting (i.e. point-to-multipoint).In broadcasting, signals are transmitted indiscriminately, i.e.regardless of whether the user has selected to receive the signal(although a decryption key or such like may still be required so thatonly authorised users can access the broadcast); whereas inpoint-to-point communication, signals must be requested by the user orusers receiving them. Or put another way, to receive a broadcast a usersimply “tunes in” without needing to send any signal to the broadcaster,whereas to establish a point-to-point connection then signals must beexchanged between the user and broadcaster.

The TV receiver unit may comprise for example an antenna, satellite dishor cable input; sampling circuitry; a filter; a low noise amplifier; amixer, and/or an analogue to digital converter. After being received bythe receiver unit, the signals are then processed by a signal processingapparatus (also not shown) before being input to the frame buffers andamplifiers of FIG. 1. Such signal processing is well known to personsskilled in the art and is therefore not discussed in detail herein.

The packet-based communication client embedded in the TV 110 is basedaround four main elements. These four elements are shown as softwareelements that are stored in a memory and executed on a processor,although alternatives are envisaged. The four elements are: a clientengine 214; an audio engine 216; a video engine 217; and a TV userinterface 218.

The client engine 214 is responsible for setting up connections to thepacket-based communication system. This is performed via a connectionfrom the TV 110 to the network 106. The TV 110 is connected to thenetwork 106 via a network interface 122 such as a modem, and theconnection between the TV 110 and the network interface may be via acable (wired) connection or a wireless connection. The client engine 214performs call set-up, authentication, encryption and connectionmanagement, as well as other functions relating to the packet-basedcommunication system such as firewall traversal, presence stateupdating, and contact list management.

The audio engine 216 is responsible for the encoding of voice signalsinput to the TV 100 via a microphone 228 as VoIP packets fortransmission over the network 106 and the decoding of VoIP packetsreceived from the network 106 for presentation as audio information tothe user 112 of the TV 110. The microphone 228 may be integrated intothe TV 110 or be connected to the TV 110 by way of a wired or wirelessconnection.

The video engine 217 is responsible for the encoding of video signalsinput to the TV (e.g. from a webcam 220 or other video camera) as videopackets for transmission over the network 106 in a video call, and thedecoding of video packets received from the network 106 in a video callfor presentation as video images to the user 112 of the TV 110. Thewebcam 220 may be integrated into the TV 110 or be connected to the TV110 by way of a wired or wireless connection.

The TV user interface (“UI”) 218 is responsible for presenting visualinformation to the user 112 of the TV 110 in the form of a graphicaluser interface displayed on the TV screen 202.

The client engine 214 is connected to the TV UI 218 in order to controlwhat the UI displays to the user. The client engine 214 is also closelyintegrated with the audio engine 216 and video engine 217 for theefficient transmission and receiving of voice and video packets over thenetwork 106.

The video engine 217 is connected to FB2 208 for providing video data tobe displayed on the TV screen 202.

The TV UI 218 is connected to FB1 206, so that the graphical userinterface data is buffered and ultimately displayed to the user on thescreen 202. The TV UI 218 is also connected to the amplifier 210,enabling sound (such as voice signals or notifications) to be producedfrom the TV speakers 212. The TV UI 218 may also be connected to aninfra-red (“IR”) receiver 224 and/or a Bluetooth transceiver 126 whichare used for communicating with a remote control unit.

Note that if the embedded communication client is provided in a STB (orother TV-connected device) for connection to a TV, then the system inFIG. 1 differs only in that the screen 202, amplifier 210, speaker 212,webcam 220 and microphone 228 blocks are located in the TV itself,whereas the remaining functional blocks are located in the set top box,which is connected to the TV.

Client engine 214 comprises an audio monitoring application 230, whichreceives inputs from microphone 228, and a video monitoring application232, which receives inputs from camera 220. Monitoring applications 230,232 are operable to analyse their respective inputs.

The TV 110 is configured so at to continuously listen to itsenvironment. That is, TV 110 is configured so as to repeatedly captureaudio signals using microphone 228 which are input to audio monitoringapplication 230 for analysis.

The TV 110 is also configured so as to continuously watch itsenvironment. That is, TV 110 is configured so as to repeatedly capturevideo signals using camera 220 which are input to video monitoringapplication 232 for analysis.

FIG. 3 illustrates a detailed view of the user device 114 on which isexecuted a communication client instance 306 for communicating over thecommunication system 100. The user device 114 comprises a centralprocessing unit (“CPU”) or “processing module” 302, to which isconnected: output devices such as a display 308, which may beimplemented as a touch-screen, and a speaker (or “loudspeaker”) 310 foroutputting audio signals; input devices such as a microphone 312 forreceiving audio signals, a camera 316 for receiving image data, and akeypad 318; a memory 314 for storing data; and a network interface 320such as a modem for communication with the network 106. The user device114 may comprise other elements than those shown in FIG. 3. The display308, speaker 310, microphone 312, memory 314, camera 316, keypad 318 andnetwork interface 320 may be integrated into the user device 104 asshown in FIG. 3. In alternative user devices one or more of the display308, speaker 310, microphone 312, memory 314, camera 316, keypad 318 andnetwork interface 320 may not be integrated into the user device 114 andmay be connected to the CPU 302 via respective interfaces. One exampleof such an interface is a USB interface. If the connection of the userdevice 114 to the network 106 via the network interface 320 is awireless connection then the network interface 320 may include anantenna for wirelessly transmitting signals to the network 106 andwirelessly receiving signals from the network 106.

FIG. 3 also illustrates an operating system (“OS”) 304 executed on theCPU 302. Running on top of the OS 304 is the software of the clientinstance 306 of the communication system 100. The operating system 304manages the hardware resources of the computer and handles data beingtransmitted to and from the network 106 via the network interface 320.The client 306 communicates with the operating system 304 and managesthe connections over the communication system. The client 306 has aclient user interface which is used to present information to the user112 and to receive information from the user 112. In this way, theclient 306 performs the processing required to allow the user 112 tocommunicate over the communication system 100.

The device 114 and TV 110 have an established pairing relationship. Thatis, device 114 and TV 110 are capable of wireless communication with oneanother (e.g. Bluetooth communication) and, at some stage, an initialpairing procedure has been completed in order to establish arelationship therebetween. For instance, as part of a user-initiatedBluetooth pairing procedure, a shared secret is typically created inorder to establish the relationship and may be stored at both TV 110 anddevice 114 using techniques known in the art. Thereafter, device 114 andTV 110 can identify themselves to one another, and create a secure link,using the shared secret whenever they are visible to one another (i.e.whenever device 114 is in range of TV 110). The device 114 and TV 110remain paired for as long as both retain the shared secret, even whenout of range of one another.

The device 114 and TV 110 also have an established presencerelationship. That is, device 114 is in range of, and is thus visibleto, TV 114 such that a link can be established based on the pairing asdescribed above.

Thus, device 114 is able to act as a companion device to TV 110. Thatis, client application 108 c executed at device 114 is able to interactwith embedded client application 108 b via a pairing communication linkfor exchanging information between TV 110 device 114, which isestablished by way of the pre-existing presence and pairingrelationships. This is described in more detail below with reference toFIG. 4.

Although described above with reference to Bluetooth, it will beappreciated that companion device 114 may be paired with the TV 110 in anumber of different ways, using both wireless and wired connectionprotocols. For example, the companion device 114 may be communicativelycoupled with the TV 110 via a WiFi connection, Ethernet connection orother type of data connection, and a suitable pairing relationship maybe established for any of these.

For instance, the pre-existing presence and pairing relationship mayarise from the fact that both device 114 and TV 110 are logged in as“User B”. In this instance, a pairing communication link may beestablished over network 106 via back-end 120 server using techniqueswhich are known in the art (rather than directly between device 114 andTV 110 over, e.g., an air interface).

A method 400 will now be described with reference to FIG. 4.

As discussed, both TV 110 and device 114 are configured to deliverexperiences to user 112 via one or more output components. The pairingcommunication link is used for exchanging information about experienceswith device 114.

At step S402, an event triggers the companion device 114 to output anindication 404 of the event over an air interface other than thecommunication link. The event may, for example be a communication eventsuch as an incoming voice or video call received at the companion device114 from user device 104. The indication may be in the form of an audioindication (alert) played out via speaker 310 and/or a visual indicationdisplayed via display 308.

The indication is detectable by, and recognizable to, TV 110 such thatTV 110 is able to determine that the event has occurred by detecting anddecoding the indication.

In embodiments where the indication 404 is an audio alert, at step S406,the audio alert is captured by TV 110 (which, as discussed, isconstantly listening to its environment) as an audio signal which isinput to, and analysed by, audio monitoring application 230.

The audio alert is recognizable to TV 110, which may be achieved in avariety of ways. For instance, a simple way of achieving this is for aparticular event to trigger one of a number of predetermined audiblealerts, each having a distinct audio waveform about which information isstored at the TV 110. That is, for the audio alert to comprise arecognizable audio sequence. The audio monitoring application 230 thendecodes the audio alert by analysing the captured audio using (e.g.)Fourier analysis and is thus able to recognize the waveform (andtherefore the event).

Alternatively, information about the event may be encoded as aninaudible (sonic) watermark. For a particular type of event, theinformation may indicate the type of the event. For instance, for anincoming call, the information may indicate that the event is anincoming call. Techniques for encoding and decoding information in theform of inaudible watermarks are known in the art.

The inaudible watermark is then captured by microphone 312 of TV 110 anddecoded by audio monitoring application 230, thereby allowing the TV 110to identify the event based on the decoded information.

This allows user 112 to select (e.g.) a customized ringtone (i.e. whichneed not be recognizable to TV 110 per se) to be played out on receiptof a call. Before playing out the ringtone as an audio stream inresponse to an incoming call, client 306 injects encoded informationpertaining to the incoming call in the form of an inaudible watermarkinto the audio stream. Thus, the audio alert played out though speaker312 has both an audible component which serves to inform the user of theincoming call and an inaudible component which serves to inform TV 110of the incoming call.

At step S406, audio monitoring application 230 directly detects theindication and determines that the event has occurred by decoding theindication. In response thereto, TV 110 sends a notification to device114 that it has identified the event (step S408), via a pairingcommunication link established by way of the pre-existing presence andpairing relationships i.e. a notification that it has decoded theindication and is capable of offering an experience.

At step S410, device 114 provides TV 110 with a list of selectableoptions for handling the event, again via the pairing communicationlink, which TV 110 displays to the user at step S412 via screen 202. Atstep S414, user 112 selects from the displayed options, and theoperation of the TV 110 is modified to implement the selected option.

Additionally or alternatively, selectable options for handling the eventare displayed on display 308 of companion device 114 and selected usinginput means of device 114. Responsive thereto, device 114 transmits acontrol signal to TV 110 causing TV 110 to implement the option.

In both cases, information about the option is exchanged over thepairing communication link.

The TV may be further configured to transmit a control signal to device114 causing device 114 to modify its operation.

For example, if the event is a communication event received at thecompanion device 114 (such as a voice or video call) from a remotecalling user (such as user 102), one of the options displayed on the TV110 and/or device 114 may be to transfer the call to the TV 110 instead(i.e. to answer, or continue, the call at the TV rather than on thedevice 114). Once the user selects the option to transfer the call, theTV sends a control signal to initiate transfer of the communicationevent from device 114 to TV 110. TV 110 has a network address which isalso sent to device 114. Device 114 then sends a message to the callinguser comprising the network address of TV 110 so that a networkconnection can be established between the calling user and the TV 110,thereby allowing the call to be transferred to the TV.

As discussed, in embodiments, the pairing communication link isestablished via back-end server 120, in which case information (such asnotifications, selected options, selectable options etc.) is sent overnetwork 106 via back-end server 120.

The call may be transferred to TV 110 before it is established (e.g.during a “ringing” period) and then established at TV 110.Alternatively, the call may be first established at device 114 and thentransferred later (i.e. during the call).

In alternative embodiments, an event may trigger a visual indicationsuch as a Quick Response (QR) code to be displayed on display 308 ofdevice 114, instead of or in addition to an audio alert. Providing thedisplay 308 is visible to camera 220, the TV 110 will capture image dataof the visual indication (as discussed, TV 110 is constantly watchingits environment). For instance, in embodiments where device 114 is asmart phone, user 112 can direct the display 308 towards camera 220.Video monitoring application 232 then analyses the captured image data,detects the visual indication, and determines that the event hasoccurred. Thereafter, the method proceeds as described above (from S408onwards).

Generally, any of the functions described herein (e.g. the functionalmodules shown in FIGS. 2 and 3, and the functional steps shown in FIG.4) can be implemented using software, firmware, hardware (e.g., fixedlogic circuitry), or a combination of these implementations. The modulesand steps shown separately in FIGS. 2 and 3 may or may not beimplemented as separate modules or steps. The terms “module,”“functionality,” “component” and “logic” as used herein generallyrepresent software, firmware, hardware, or a combination thereof. In thecase of a software implementation, the module, functionality, or logicrepresents program code that performs specified tasks when executed on aprocessor (e.g. CPU or CPUs). The program code can be stored in one ormore computer readable memory devices. The features of the techniquesdescribed herein are platform-independent, meaning that the techniquesmay be implemented on a variety of commercial computing platforms havinga variety of processors. For example, the user devices may also includean entity (e.g. software) that causes hardware of the user devices toperform operations, e.g., processors functional blocks, and so on. Forexample, the user devices may include a computer-readable medium thatmay be configured to maintain instructions that cause the user devices,and more particularly the operating system and associated hardware ofthe user devices to perform operations. Thus, the instructions functionto configure the operating system and associated hardware to perform theoperations and in this way result in transformation of the operatingsystem and associated hardware to perform functions. The instructionsmay be provided by the computer-readable medium to the user devicesthrough a variety of different configurations.

One such configuration of a computer-readable medium is signal bearingmedium and thus is configured to transmit the instructions (e.g. as acarrier wave) to the computing device, such as via a network. Thecomputer-readable medium may also be configured as a computer-readablestorage medium and thus is not a signal bearing medium. Examples of acomputer-readable storage medium include a random-access memory (RAM),read-only memory (ROM), an optical disc, flash memory, hard disk memory,and other memory devices that may us magnetic, optical, and othertechniques to store instructions and other data.

Although the subject matter has been described in language specific tostructural features and/or methodological acts, it is to be understoodthat the subject matter defined in the appended claims is notnecessarily limited to the specific features or acts described above.Rather, the specific features and acts described above are disclosed asexample forms of implementing the claims.

In particular, whist the embodiments described above have been describedwith reference to a TV with an embedded communication client, it shouldbe understood that the client can also be embedded into another type ofmedia device for connection to a TV, such a set top box, a games consoleor video playback device (e.g. a video disc player or a personal videorecorder).

Further, whilst the embodiments described above have been described withreferences to particular experiences delivered by a communicationclient, it will be appreciated that typical user device are operable toexecute versions of many different applications or “apps”, each of whichcan deliver a particular experience appropriate to that device.Similarly, typical media devices are also operable to execute(potentially different) versions of those applications or “apps” whichoffer alternative experiences. It will be appreciated that the claimedsubject matter is broadly applicable to all such experiences.

1. A media device comprising: an output component configured to deliveran experience to a user; a pairing communication link for exchanginginformation about the experience with a paired user device; a detectioncomponent configured to directly detect an indication received from theuser device over an air interface other than the communication link; anda processing component for decoding the indication and configured toexchange information via the pairing communication link with the paireduser device in response to decoding the indication, said informationincluding information about an option, the processing component furtherconfigured to detect selection of the option and modify operation of themedia device to implement the selected option.
 2. A media deviceaccording to claim 1, the processing component configured to transmit tothe user device as part of said information a notification that theindication has been decoded.
 3. A media device according to claim 1,whereby the option is a selectable option received as part of saidinformation and output to the user via the output component, theprocessing component configured to detect selection at the media deviceof the option by the user.
 4. A media device according to claim 1, theprocessing component configured to detect selection of the option bydetecting a control signal transmitted as part of said information bythe user device in response to the option being selected at the userdevice.
 5. A media device according to claim 1, wherein the outputcomponent comprises a display for displaying information to the user inthe user experience.
 6. A media device according to claim 1, wherein thedetection component comprises a microphone for detecting an audioindication.
 7. A media device according to claim 6, wherein the audioindication comprises a sonic watermark.
 8. A media device according toclaim 6, wherein the audio indication comprises an audio sequencerecognisable by the detection component.
 9. A media device according toclaim 1, wherein the detection component comprises a camera and wherethe indication is a visual indication.
 10. A media device according toclaim 1, wherein the processing component is further configured totransmit a control signal to the user device causing the user device tomodify its operation.
 11. A media device according to claim 10, whereinthe processing component is configured to: execute a communicationclient to establish a communication event with a second user device viaa network; and send information to the paired user device, saidinformation enabling the communication event to be established betweenthe media device and the second user device.
 12. A media deviceaccording to claim 11, wherein said information comprises a networkaddress of the media device for establishing a communication event withthe second user device.
 13. A media device according to claim 11,wherein the processing component is configured to receive an establishedcommunication event transferred from the paired user device.
 14. A userdevice comprising: a pairing communication link for exchanginginformation with a paired media device about an experience configured tobe delivered at the media device; an indication generator for generatingan indication for transmission over an air interface other than thecommunication link; and a processing component configured to exchangeinformation via the pairing communication link with the paired mediadevice responsive to detection by the media device of the transmittedindication, said information including information about an option,thereby enabling the media device to modify its operation upon detectingselection of the option.
 15. A user device according to claim 14,wherein the processing component is configured to provide the option asa selectable option to the paired media device as part of saidinformation, to receive a control signal from the paired media devicewhen the selectable option has been activated by a user of the mediadevice and to modify the operation of the user device based on thecontrol signal.
 16. A user device according to claim 14, furthercomprising an output component, wherein the option is output to the uservia the output component, the processing component configured to detectselection of the option by the user and to transmit a control signal tothe media device as part of said information in response.
 17. A userdevice according to claim 14, further comprising an output component,wherein the output component comprises a display.
 18. A user deviceaccording to claim 14, wherein the processing component is configured toexecute a communication client to establish a communication event with asecond user device via a network.
 19. A user device according to claim18, wherein the processing component is configured to transfer anestablished communication event to the paired media device based on thecontrol signal.
 20. A method of controlling an experience delivered by amedia device which is paired with a paired user device by a pairingcommunication link, the paired user device comprising a processorconfigured to execute a communication client to establish acommunication event with a second user device via a network the methodcomprising: at the media device, directly detecting an indicationreceived from the paired user device over an air interface other than acommunication link; decoding the indication and exchanging informationvia the pairing communication link with the paired user device;receiving a selectable option over the pairing communication link andoutputting a selectable option to a user at the media device; anddetecting selection of the option and sending information to the paireduser device, said information enabling an established communicationevent with a second communication device to be transferred to the mediadevice from the paired user device, based on the selected option.